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Welcome

to Pandora

By the hands of the Gods, you have been plucked from your time and from your world, dropped into the box. Only the box is a world of its own.

We are a mass crossover based on the concept of Pandora's Box. Characters from nearly any fandom can be played here. Because of the endless character possibilities, we are canon only here at Pandora. Take a peek at our rules and plot information before starting your new life in Pandora.

….But at times, she needed to stretch her legs just a little bit, True that she had found a comfortable role here in Pandora and the bay, but Emma has spent her life rolling from place to place moving from one disaster to another, and no matter where she went there always seemed that there was still one fire or another that needed to be put out…and now she was in a somewhat comfortable place, Emma had to confess she was somewhat..bored…

She wasn’t cut out for a normal life….

So as you can imagine Emma leapt at the chance to explore a mysterious and somewhat ominous cave, well, Emma jumped at the chance.

She stood at the entrance of the cave with a backpack across her shoulders and her mother’s sword on her back (Hey you could never be too careful, there was a reason Emma was one of there were few volunteers for this, after all this was Pandora after all, for all she knew there might be nothing whatsoever in there. ..Or there might be dragons or Goblins or trolls or any manner of nasty beasts. That might be lurking in there…

...Personally, Emma relished it.

So once Emma made sure that Henry was safe with a babysitter, Emma set about travelling to the edge of the bay towards this crypt.

.It certainly didn't look much from the outset; it was some rock formation that seemed to appear out of nowhere...Almost like the opening of a cave, Emma tried to peer into the inky blackness to maybe get a clue what was inside, carefully shining a torch towards it…

….But the snapping of a branch right behind her caused her to spin around her her heel and wave her torch towards the trees

Henry was supposed to be a good boy and stay home with a babysitter while his mom went out on an adventure. Did anyone really expect him to stay behind, possibly getting bored while his mom got to see some cool stuff?

So when his mom had left, Henry had waited a few minutes, bolted to his room and got together a few items that he might need, waited until the coast was clear and then escaped. Upon reflection he realized he had way too much practice with this and felt sorry for the babysitter for when she inevitably realized he was missing. Being the nice kid he was, he doubled back, wrote a quick note and left it on his pillow before finally heading towards the crypt.

Having lived in Cascade Bay for a while now, after his mom had been offered a job here which meant an actual house and an actual bed(he had been grateful when he stayed in Pandora town, he was with his mom rather than alone but sleeping on the couch and in Emma's case the bathroom, it wasn't suitable), Henry had already explored the inner portion of the town so while Emma had a head start, it was rather easy for him to find her.

Even with the amount of people walking about.

Sneaking wasn't anything new and he was quite good at it. Except when he got too excited sometimes and forgot to look where he was stepping, in this case the branch beneath his foot that snapped under his weight.

"On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you at me right now?" Henry asked, appearing before the light emanating from the lit torch. Well he'd been busted, no use trying to hide unless he wanted extra punishment.

Instinctively, having heard the disturbance behind her like someone threw a light switch in her mind, like a wild animal sensing a hunter in the wild, Emma’s body stiffened up and her hand automatically went to the handle of the sword without a moment’s hesitation.Which Emma couldn’t help but think telling, instead of going for her trusty pistol at her hip her gut reaction was to go for the sword.

If that wasn’t prime evidence that’s she’s been fully ingratiated into the enchanted forest and all that went with it, she didn’t know what was. Who knows? Another six months around her parents and she’d be swapping all of her guns for bow and arrows….

Her eyes narrowed as she drew herself to her full height as she tried to make out what might be approaching from the shadows, her guard fully up, not that it was ever fully down, of course, that was a sure fire way to get yourself in trouble. Especially in Emma’s position.She didn’t get a lot from her childhood but she certainly learned that valuable lesson, she took a moment to look to her side, only now coming to terms with the fact that she was alone in the woods in a vulnerable position…

...And of course, there were rumours that The Governor was trying to get into the bay….

Well fine if that was the case, then let’s see how many ways she could skin a cat….

Her hand tensed on her sword as she made out a shape in the darkness slowly getting closer...and closer...wait...was that…

“Oh god damn it Henry, you scared the crap out of me!” Emma sighed in exasperation as she breath out in relief and her hand drifting off the sword and her body gently relaxed, Was she mad? Partly. To be honest, her reaction was an overwhelming sense of “Of course he tagged along”. A part of her must have been expecting him to show up because she was more slightly bemused more than anything else “Would it honestly kill you to stay behind when...y’know I tell you to stay behind?”

Of course she knew why Henry was here, she didn’t need to be his mother to know exactly what he was doing or what he wanted and even before he said anything Emma was already shaking her head her arms folded “It’s not happening kid, if you start walking back now you might make it back before home before I get a phone call telling me you’ve probably been kidnapped...and I lose another...baby sitter.

He waited with baited breathe. He knew that his mother wouldn't attack him, her instinct would kick in long before the blade could cut his skin. No, he was waiting for the telling off he would no doubt get. He'd broken the rules, went against her word and followed her rather than stay home. But really, if he didn't follow then would he be Henry Mills Swan?

"Sorry." Henry said, abashed. "Well not but-" How could he come up with something convincing enough to get her to agree to him to remain? "Going alone on an adventure is dangerous." He pointed out, though as far as topics went it wasn't the most convincing and he knew it.

The young boy grinned, this time way ahead of her and feeling rather proud he had thought things through this time. "I left a note this time."

From the torch-light flickering, shadows grew and shrank on the walls behind his mom. They looked strangely familiar yet he couldn't place where he'd seen it. Certainly not back in Storybrooke, maybe in the library in Pandora town? Quickly he moved towards them before he changed his mind, his hand pressed against the worn cave wall. Surprisingly the markings felt hot to the touch as if it had been bathed in sunlight.

“Yeah, it is” Emma agreed sighing deeply already knowing where this was going, after all, Henry’s main hobby was sneakily following Emma into dangerous situations and by this point he was an expert at it “I’m used to this whole danger thing by now...and besides when they say “It’s dangerous to go alone” they mean, bring a cop, someone with a weapon, someone to watch your back...Not a twelve-year-old kid who should be...and you’re already in the cave aren’t you” Emma noted in the same breath watching out of the corner of her eye Henry happily walking into the entrance of the cave.

That could have gone better.

Signing forlorn to herself she reluctantly looked at the sky and shrugged her shoulders “Regina is going to kill me for this...But what else is new...” She admitted before turning around and followed behind Henry waving her torchlight to and fro, she instantly clocked the strange markings on the wall, curious her eyes narrowed in their direction to fully examine them...They looked….Old, that was the only way Emma could describe it, Nothing as sophisticated as Egyptian hieroglyphics, it was just a collections of lines intersecting with each other over and over again, into some ancient language that seemed older then the walls they were caved on, which she supposed made sense, considering the fact that Pandora seemed to take people from their times, it would make sense that all manner of ancient civilizations would find themselves here. “
“You have?” Emma said quirking her eyebrows at her son in slight surprised "You mean like in your book? You think whoever left them here is from the enchanted forest?”

Henry was barely listening, too engrossed in the markings on the cave wall. He pressed his face closer, his ear aimed at the wall. A faint hum could be heard as if the markings were alive. Some of the markings were similar to those in his book back home, stories from the Enchanted Forest. Others were a little different but the young boy had no doubt as to what it was. To have it be here of all places made him tremble with excitement. A little piece from home perhaps?

"See these ones." Henry pointed to the left of the markings. "Those are very similar. The others are more advanced but-" He moved to the right, his fingers trailing a pattern. "These markings belong to faeries." Faeries who were known to be little tricksters and trick humans mostly with very little ease. His mom was the savior and he was nothing the savior's son so he figured they wouldn't have too much trouble with them.

"This also acts as a sort of door. We just need to find the right marking for it to open. Or so the legends say."

Where did Henry learn how to determine shapes and italics on the wall? At this point Emma just kind of rolled with anything his son said. He was a smart kid, after all, he was a magnet for information and a self-professed bookworm. He was an encyclopedia of knowledge like this especially when it came to the unusual or odd…

So when Emma was told it was fairies...she had no reason to doubt her…..

“Fairies,,,,” Emma muttered looking at the symbols trying in vain to try and make sense out of the symbols “”You mean like blue?”

Emma looked up momentarily shifting his head upwards as if she could feel a presence behind her….

There were different types of faeries, those that they knew weren't exactly mischevious. Blue was also known as a fairy godmother and only those with a pure heart could ask for a wish. The markings on the walls didn't refer to any fairy godmother, unless he missed it? Henry looked closer, inspecting it beneath the torch light.

"In size and power yes. Exactly like Blue. As for tempa- tempre-" Henry had trouble trying to pronounce the word temperament but soon lost his train of thought when Emma spoke. Too deep in thought and excitement, he hadn't felt anything until he looked at his mom.

The very air seemed to shimmer.

Small lights flickered in a dance pattern that had no effect on Henry. He knew in that moment how to open the door in the wall, the lights telling him what to do.

Only Pandora would be able to provide her son with an encyclopedia for every type of fairy there might be.

Still more useful than geometry she guessed and it certainly came in useful right now.

Emma relaxed a little once her son confirmed that a hive of fairies that made her home here in the cave, she felt she could rest at least for the moment, she had no reason whatsoever to doubt what her son was saying, he was a smart kid, and this was his area of knowledge. Emma had guns, and where exactly to punch a guy to send him off to la-la land (Spoiler: Right behind the ear) and Henry had the whole fairytale thing going on. If it was fairies, they tend to keep to themselves and relatively friendly if not a little overbearing, she felt she can drop her guard down for just a moment, at least until they run into some giant bear that the fairies were house sharing with.

“Temperament” Emma listened to Henry keenly, but her body jolted up in slight alarm once Henry broke off as his eyes caught something behind her. Instinctively Emma turned around to face the dancing lights that were floating right behind her.

….but then a funny thing happened. With her eyes narrowed, Emma didn’t react whatsoever to the group of fairies that have seemed to have taken an interest in her whispering and laughing at her and instead looked pass them towards the darkness of the cave beyond

“What’s up?” Emma asked seemingly confused turning back to her son “You see something?” Emma asked concerned what might have got her son’s attention seemingly oblivious that one of the fairies have now begun to play with the ends of her hair

Henry couldn't even reply that yes, that was the word he was looking for because right now he was too busy watching the faeries. Small and full of light, he wondered how he hadn't seen them before. That his own mom couldn't see them, Henry worried about that the most. They'd come along way for Emma to believe what Henry was saying so that wasn't it.

If the faeries remained invisible to his mom then they weren't done playing around. One that was playing intently with Emma's hair and Henry pointed to the spot. "You can't see them, can you?" Henry mused. "The faeries. They're all around us." As if that might make them visible to her though he knew that wasn't how any of this worked.

"If I can see them and you cannot, that doesn't sound good." Henry added, his palm pressing against the stone, following the pattern that he knew. With a creak and shudder, the wall began to split open. "Come on. We shouldn't stay around them too long." By we he meant her and tugged on her shirt sleeve to get her attention.

Inside the wall would be relics to help ward off the faeries, lost to the echoes of time and waiting for those in need to pick them up.